Lost: Two More Survivors
by Xain D
Summary: Isn't it a little hard to believe there were no teens on Oceanic 815? This story is a re-imagining of the show "Lost," adding two new survivors. Brother and sister Gavin and Meredith have lived through the crash of Oceanic 815. How will they survive? Who will be friends? And who will be foes? Told from Gavin's point of view. Please enjoy!
1. The Day Flight 815 Went Down

Chapter One

The Day Flight 815 Went Down

My eyes shot open, and I realized I was staring up at the open blue sky. But I should've been looking at the inside of an airplane. I turned my head, and saw a large mountain, covered in lush green plant life, off in the distance. I knew something was wrong, but I was so dazed I couldn't think straight. I pulled my hand up to rub my eyes, and when I pulled away, I noticed the blood on my palm. Then I began to feel a stinging pain in my side, where my hand had just been. With some effort, I pulled myself up, using the sand beneath me as a support. I looked to my side, to see a large blood stain was seeping over my shirt. That was when my senses returned, and I heard the screaming. From all around me, people were screaming or moaning. There was a woman shrieking something I couldn't understand. I turned my head around, and was taken aback with what I saw. Gigantic hunks of metal were strewn across the sand, fires raging on many of them. A smallish chunk near me read 'Oceanic 815'; the plane I had been on. People were slowly limping about, most injured in some way. They were grouping together, trying to find their loved ones. That's when I realized I was missing someone too.

"Meredith!" I called out, but my voice was hoarse. "Meredith, where are you?" I scanned the area, but I couldn't find her. I tried to stand, and did so, but it took a lot out of me. I needed to catch my breath for a minute, then began limping around. Now I could take in the full front of the devastation before me. Many people lied dead, and even more were seriously injured. I watched a man in a suit pull another man out from under some wreckage, to find that part of the second man's leg was missing. An African American man was running around, looking for someone. A blonde twenty-something girl was standing in one spot, shrieking. An Asian man was screaming in another language, maybe Korean. And then I saw Meredith. She was curled in a tight ball, near some wreckage that was on fire. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and she clutched herself tightly. I moved as fast as I could, trying not to get in anyone else's way. I got to her, and knelt down.

"Gavin!" she shouted, above the noise that was coming from the plane's still-running motor. "Gavin what's going on?" I looked around.

"The… the plane," I managed. "It crashed. We're on an island. But we're going to be alright. Just come with me." I held out a hand, just in time to hear a voice come from behind me.

"Get away from there!" someone shouted. I spun my head, just in time to see a plump man get sucked into the plane's motor. He hit the spinning blades, and the entire thing blew up, sending several people to the ground. I used my body to cover Meredith's, but the only thing that reached us was the heat from the flames, no flying rubble. When I checked again to make sure no more explosions were going to happen, I helped Meredith to her feat. She was limping worse than me, so I told her to put an arm around my shoulders. We began walking to a safer distance. Just then a boy, early twenties, ran up to us.

"Do either of you have a pen?" he asked frantically. I barely managed an "umm…" before he ran off. What was all that about? Suddenly I noticed something in my peripheral vision. The wing of the plane, which was suspended up into the air, was slowly tilting downwards.

"Crap," I managed to say. Then the wing fell, and yet another explosion followed it. Both Meredith and I were knocked to our stomachs on the sand. There was a sudden absence of noise, as if the entire thing was finally over. The whole ordeal, done with. But I knew things were far from over.

XxXxX

Things eventually did settle down. What was left of the plane was all in safe areas, no longer precariously perched in ways that could cause more damage. The only fires still burning were small enough to keep maintained and provided warmth. The survivors (I counted somewhere between 40 and 50) were either milling about, trying to find their luggage, or sitting down, lost in thought. I was one of the latter, and Meredith and I sat down near the shore, gazing out into the ocean. We had both recovered some in the past hour, but it still hurt to move around too much. After a while of silence, I spoke up.

"When do you think mom will hear about this," I asked quietly. "When do you think she'll…" Meredith cut me off.

"Come on, Gav," she said resting a head on my shoulder. "Mom will be okay. The search party's probably already on the way. We'll be home in no time." I sighed heavily, and continued staring out at the waves rolling in. They were nice, full waves, good for surfing. Back home, in Los Angeles, I would probably have surfed any waves even close to these ones. But I wasn't back home. I was on some god damned island. Just as I was thinking about these things, a man walked up to us. He was bald, wearing khaki pants and a plaid shirt. He had a scar over his eye, and I wondered if he'd gotten it from the crash.

"Hello there," he said to us, not sitting down yet. I waved to him. "Mind if I join you?" I looked to Meredith, who shrugged. I shook my head, signifying that I had no qualms about it, and he sat down next to Meredith and me. "My name's John. John Locke." He extended a hand, which I tentatively shook.

"I'm Gavin Berkely," I said weakly, still not having a whole lot of energy. "And this is my sister, Meredith." I nodded in Meredith's direction.

"Nice to meet you both," said John Locke. He turned his head to look at the ocean, as I had been doing previously. "So, what were you two doing in Sydney?" Did I really want to answer that? It was personal, and I don't think Meredith would want me to answer either. This man, Locke, seemed to sense my hesitance. "You don't need to answer, it's fine. Me, I was going to go on a walkabout."

"A what?" asked Meredith. John smiled.

"It's a… a sort of journey. Into the Australian outback. I wouldn't have expected you kids to have known what it was. How old are you two, anyway?"

"I'm sixteen," I said. "Meredith's fifteen, well, until December that is." Locke nodded, and reclined slightly in the sand. "Uh… Mr. Locke?"

"Please, just call me John," he said. "Or Locke, whichever you prefer. And, yes, what is it?"  
"When people… survive things like this…" I said. "They get rescued usually, right?" Locke sighed.

"I hope so, Gavin," he said after a moment. "For all of us, I sincerely hope so." Just then, another man walked up to us.

"What're your names?" he asked us. He had shaggy hair, and a thin beard. His skin was dark, and he had a Middle Eastern accent. We exchanged looks.

"My name is John Locke," John offered. "These two kids are Gavin and Meredith Berkely." The Middle Eastern man nodded.

"Well, John Locke, Gavin and Meredith Berkely," he said. "We need help with the signal fires. We need planes passing overhead to see it, and it won't be visible without more firewood. Come on." John got to his feet, and offered me a hand. I grasped it, and he helped me up. His hand was warm, but rough, like it had calluses on it. Meredith grabbed my other hand.

"No, stay here," I said. Before she could protest, I continued. "You're hurt a lot worse than I am. I don't want you walking around the jungle with a wound like that open. There's probably someone around here who can fix you up. Go ask around. I'll be fine." She looked like she wanted to complain, but was too tired, and eventually nodded. I turned to look at the dark skinned man. "We told you our names, what's yours?"

"My name is Sayid Jarrah," he said simply. Sayid, Locke and I began walking away from Meredith, towards the jungle. "You are a good brother, Gavin." He added. I smiled slightly at the compliment. But I knew inside I was _anything_ from a good brother. The three of us headed for the thick looking trees. We passed by two more people, whom IU recognized. The blonde girl was the one who was screaming, and the boy was the one who'd asked me for a pen earlier.

"Hey you two," called Locke. "Do you want to help us gather some wood for a signal fire?" The boy and the girl looked at each other. I saw the girl mouth 'not a chance,' but the boy stood up.

"Yeah, sure," he said, walking over to us. "I'll come with." We continued walking for a moment, and when we were out of the girl's earshot, the boy spoke again. "Hey, don't let Shannon get on your nerves. She can be kind of… well… You get it."

"Not to worry," said Locke, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. I barely knew this bald man, but I could tell he was an inherently friendly person. "My name's John Locke. This is Sayid Jarrah, and Gavin Berkely."

"I'm Boone," the boy said. "Boone Carlisle. Shannon's my sister." There wasn't really anywhere to go from there, so we continued in silence until we got to the jungle.

"We'll get more wood if we split up," suggested Sayid. "Mr. Locke, why don't we go to the west, and these two go to the east?" Locke nodded in acceptance, and the older two of the four of us went their own way.

"Come on, Boone," I said, as I started walking the opposite direction. "That firewood's not going to find itself, you know." Boone chuckled, and took a few bounding steps to catch up with me. "So… if we're being honest," I said, bending down to pick up some wood that looked thick and dry enough. "How long do you think we'll be here?" Boone grabbed his own piece of wood, and contemplated my question.

"Maybe a week?" he guessed. "Week and a half tops, I'd say. Planes don't just go missing. Someone's bound to be looking for us, maybe even on their way now. I have no idea." I shrugged, grabbing two more pieces of wood.

We continued on like that for a while, not talking a lot, just some idle chit chat. It started to get dark, so we decided it was a good idea to head back. We reached the beach, and found Sayid and Locke already back. Sayid walked up to us.

"Good job, boys," he said. "That is a perfect amount. Locke, if you would…" Locke smiled, and took the firewood from my arms. Sayid did the same for Boone, and they began throwing it onto an already burning fire. Locke turned back to the two of us.

"Your sisters were looking for you two," he informed us. Meredith was looking for me? Was she hurt? Oh no, if she was… I couldn't dwell on it. I thanked Locke, and said a quick farewell to my fellow survivors, before going off to find Meredith. I searched for a while, but couldn't find her. I started asking around.

"Excuse me?" I called, to a large man with a box in his hands. He had long hair, and was kind of sweaty. "Have you seen a girl, around my age? Five foot seven. Long blonde hair." The guy scratched his head for a minute.

"Um… oh!" he said, like he'd remembered. "Yeah, dude. She's over… there," he pointed, and when I squinted I could make out Meredith, sitting by a small fire, with an older man.

"Thanks," I said, going to the spot where the fat man had pointed.

"Sure dude," he said. I made my way over to the small fire. Meredith smiled when she saw me, and waved me over. I sat on the sand next to her, and she gestured to the man she was with.

"I took your advice, Gav," she said. "And I found a doctor. This is Jack." The man, Jack, extended a hand to me, which I shook. Meredith continued. "He stitched me up, look." She turned her back to me, and pulled up her shirt, revealing a red scar going down her back, with some black thread weaved in and out through it. I looked to Jack.

"Thank you," I said, grabbing his hand and shaking it again. "Thank you so much." Jack smiled.

"Don't mention it," he assured me. "I'm a surgeon. It's my job. But your sister told me you're kind of banged up too." I hadn't thought about it for a while, but now that someone mentioned it, the gash on my side started to sting again. I lifted up my shirt, revealing the deep cut on my side. Jack had already begun taking out a knitting needle and some thread. He produced a tiny bottle of alcohol, and uncorked it.

"I'll be honest," he said. "This isn't going to be fun." I gritted my teeth as he poured some of the alcohol into the open cut, making it sting like hell. The pain from that subsided soon enough, and I let out a breath. "We're not out of the woods yet," Jack reminded me. And with that, he began stitching me up. It hurt like… there's no way to describe it. I'd gotten stitches before, but the area was numb, and we were in a hospital. I just bit down hard, and squeezed my eyes shut. After what seemed like hours, it was over, and Jack patted me on the back.

"Thanks," I said, with a heavy breath. He nodded.

"We've got to do whatever we can to survive, right?" he said. I nodded.

"Yeah," I said. "Whatever we can to survive."

_Flashback One_

_September Eighteenth, 2004_

_ Gavin had gotten home from school early that day. His mother had called him out. The excuse was a doctor's appointment, but Gavin knew that wasn't the real reason. He got in his mother's car, and they quickly drove away from the school._

_ "How was your day, honey?" asked his mom, sounding distracted. Gavin shrugged._

_ "Fine, I guess," he said, pulling an apple out of his bag and taking a bite of it. "How was yours?" His mom didn't answer, just kept her eyes focused on the road. "Um… mom? You okay?" She sighed heavily._

_ "I'll tell you when we get home, okay?" Gavin nodded, but didn't stop wondering what was on his mother's mind. The whole ride home (which wasn't that long, really) he pondered what it could be. Had he gotten a bad grade on that midterm? Was she getting laid off? There were a large amount of possibilities, but none of them were the actual reason for his mother's strange behavior._

_ They arrived at the house. It was a nice enough place, not extravagant, but it was enough. It was right on the beach, which Gavin had always thought of as a blessing. Immediate access to the waves was just about the only thing he could've ever asked for. They walked into the house, and were greeted with the wet, rough tongue of a beagle._

_ "Easy, Dingo," Gavin said, petting the excited dog. "It's just me. I'm home early." The dog, Dingo, wagged his tail with joy at Gavin's early return. Gavin picked up a tennis ball the dog had dropped at his feet, and tossed it down the hallway. Dingo chased after it, and Gavin's mother walked into the kitchen. Gavin followed, and sat at the table with her. "Come on, mom. What's up?" She sighed heavily._

_ "I got a call," she said at last. "You know my friend in Sydney. Carol?" Gavin nodded. "She managed to get in touch… with Meredith." Gavin's eyes shot wide open._

_ "What?" he asked, not believing what he was hearing. "Are you serious, mom? You know where Meredith is?" She held a hand to her mouth, something she always did when she was sad._

_ "Your father…" she said slowly. "Your father kicked her out. About two days ago. She went and found Carol. She told her that she didn't want to see me. But… I had an idea…"_

_ "What is it, mom?" asked Gavin, determined to get his sister back._

_ "If… Well, what if you go and get her in Australia?" Gavin's eyes widened again, shocked at what he was hearing. His mother explained. "She's still terribly mad at me, and I agree with her. But she's not mad at you. If you can get her, and Carol brings her to the airport, she'll come back home." She took Gavin's hands in her own. "Please, Gavin. Bring your sister home."_


	2. Transceiver

_Author's Note: I realized I forgot to put an author's note at the beginning of the first chapter. Sorry 'bout that… Well, anyway, welcome to my new fic, centered around, you guessed it, "Lost." In my opinion, it's the best TV show of the past decade, and I know I'm not the only one who thinks so. So if you share my views, or just want a good read, you've found the right place. Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lost, or any of the characters besides Gavin and Meredith.**

Chapter Two

Transceiver

It was getting much later, and Meredith and I were trying to warm ourselves by a fire. We were sitting on a log with that man, Sayid, and another man in a black hoodie. He was writing something on his fingers in a Sharpie pen, but I wasn't sure what it was. The fire was nice and warm, though, so I didn't really say much. Sayid spoke up.

"You'd think they would have come by now," he said, mostly to himself, though we all heard it. The man in the hoodie pulled the hood down. He was young, blonde, and looked vaguely familiar.

"Who?" he asked Sayid. Sayid turned to the blonde man.

"Anybody," he said. I turned my attention back to the fire, and then took a glance at Meredith. She was staring intently at the flames. Just then, there was a loud rumbling noise from behind us. The four of us turned to look, and saw some rustling in the trees.

"What'd you reckon that is then?" asked the hoodie wearing man, with a British accent. Then there was a loud clang, and a tree fell. Sayid jumped out of his seat, looking like he was preparing for a fight. Then some more noises, and another tree fell. It sounded like someone was operating construction machinery. But there was some other noise accompanying it. _Tikka tikka tikka_. Sayid and the British man got up, and Meredith and I followed suit. We all started moving closer to the jungle, but at the same time keeping a safe distance. The closer we got, I realized other people were joining us. There were a lot, but also a few I recognized. John Locke, Boone, and Jack the doctor. There was also a pregnant girl, the fat guy who'd directed me to Meredith, and a bunch of people I hadn't seen yet. An African American man stood there with a kid, younger than Meredith or myself. It was nice to know we weren't the only kids on this island. Then, with one final noise, the trees seemed to all shake at once, and then not at all. At first no one said anything, but then the British man spoke up.

"Terrific."

XxXxX

No one had gotten any sleep that night. We were too freaked out to even shut our eyes for more than a blink. I'd heard talk of Jack and some other woman going into the jungle the next day. I would have advised against it, but they probably wouldn't have listened to me anyway. When morning came, people began talking about what had happened last night. They were grouped up, and Meredith and I were no exception. We found some people we were familiar with—the British man (who told us his name was Charlie) Sayid and Boone—as well as some we'd never met, like Boone's sister Shannon, and the black man and his son.

"Whatever it was…" reasoned the African American man (whose name was Michael). "It wasn't natural." His son, a boy named Walt, nodded in agreement. Charlie tried to change the subject.

"Does anyone have any sun-block?" he said, looking at the sky.

"Yeah, I do," offered Shannon, rifling through a bag beside her. Just then, Jack walked by, and hunched down with the rest of us.

"I'm going to find the cockpit," he informed us. I knew it. "I'm gonna see if we can find a transceiver to send a distress signal. Out to a rescue team. You're going to need to keep an eye on the wounded." We all nodded, accepting that responsibility.

"I'll come with you," offered Charlie, sitting up. "I want to help." Jack tried to decline, saying he didn't need any more help, but Charlie insisted. I suddenly found myself standing up too.

"I'm in also," I said. Everyone looked at me like I was out of my mind. Jack shook his head, and Meredith tried to pull me back to the ground by my pant leg.

"No way, Gavin," said Jack. "I'm not bringing you with. This could be dangerous. I'm not going to put a kid in danger like that."  
"I'm not a kid!" I protested, but Jack just shook his head again, and started to walk off. Charlie looked at me sympathetically as I sat back down.

"Sorry, mate," he said, and followed Jack.

"Come on, man," said Boone, who was sitting to my right. "You'd probably get eaten by a tiger or something anyway."

"It's not funny," I said. "I don't want people treating me like a kid. If we're going to be stuck here for a while—"

"We're _not_ going to be stuck here for a while," Shannon interrupted me. "Jack said he's going to send a message on the whats-it-called from the cockpit. We'll be home in no time." I crossed my arms, still upset. The fat guy from the night before walked over.

"Hey dudes," he said. "Uh… I'm Hurley. Nice to, uh, meet you." We gave half hearted waves to Hurley, and he sat down with us. "So, uh, what's everyone talking about."

"The dinosaur in the jungle," said Walt.

"It's not a dinosaur," said Shannon. "Dinosaurs are extinct, kid." Walt shrugged, still holding onto the belief it was a dinosaur.

"Whatever it was," said Sayid. "Let us hope it doesn't come back. We don't need that… thing bothering us before we are rescued." There were some nods.

"Hey," said Meredith, changing the subject. "Where're we going to sleep? I mean, we can't really sleep in the wreckage, can we?"

"I would advise against it," said Sayid. "We will most likely need to make lean-tos or tents out of wood and useless luggage."

"And what about food?" asked Boone. "We can only live on airplane peanuts for so long."

"The jungle's going to have fruit and nuts," said Michael. "People will need to gather stuff each day, but it shouldn't be a hassle." Just then, there was a loud crash above us, and we all looked up as it started raining. Heavily.

"Where did _that_ come from?" I shouted, as the pouring rain was drowning out most sound.

"I don't know," said Boone, standing up. "Come on everyone, we need to get under something!" We stood, and began running to the nearest plane wreckage. I took Meredith by the hand, and followed Boone and Shannon. We passed someone, the only person not running, and I realized it was Locke.

"John!" I shouted, though he paid me no mind. "John Locke! You've got to get out of the rain!" He turned to me, and opened one of his eyes. He cracked a smile, then turned his face up to the sky. I decided to let him be, and followed Boone and Shannon under some plane wreckage.

"This is ridiculous!" yelled Shannon. "Boone, when are we going to get off this island?" Like he would know. He didn't answer, however, because we were all suddenly distracted by the tree line. It was moving again, accompanied by the strange noises from the night before.

"Oh god," Meredith whispered. "It's back." I subconsciously gripped her hand tighter. From under the wreckage, the four of us watched the trees shake harder and harder.

"What d'you think it is?" I asked, but it was more like thinking out loud. The trees gave an extra violent shake, and we all involuntarily moved closer together. And we waited out the rain together like that, under the wreckage, and ended up finally finding our first night of sleep on the island.

XxXxX

The next day was mostly spent by the survivors looking through luggage, trying to scrounge up anything of value. Meredith and I set out trying to find our own bags, but had no luck. Either they were gone forever, or someone else had gotten to them first.

"My clothes were in there…" complained Meredith.

"My deck of cards was in mine," I said, equally displeased. Whenever I take a plane ride, I bring a deck of cards. I usually end up playing solitaire, but if I'm seated near someone I'm traveling with (or a stranger who's also a fan of cards) I might play something different. Then I noticed something. John Locke was sitting by the shore, holding a small box. He opened it, and held a small black rock up. "Hey Mer, I'm gonna go see what Locke's doing." She nodded.

"I'll try and find Boone and Shannon," she suggested. "See if they had any better luck than us." I nodded, and set off. In the short time we'd been on this island, we already had people that we liked the most, and felt the closest too. Boone and Shannon, Mr. Locke, and Charlie. The doctor, the Iraqi and Hurley were also nice. And there were others we were _not_ so fond of. There was a southerner, blonde and quiet, who was constantly smoking or flirting with women. He wasn't our favorite.

"Hey Mr.—" I started, but stopped myself. "I mean, hey Locke. What's that?" He turned, and held up what looked like a suitcase from the outside. Inside, there were rows of different colored fabric, and small black and white stones.

"This is an old board game," he explained, patting the sand next to him for me to sit. I sat. "It's called backgammon."

"I've heard of that," I said, remembering something from my past. "Yeah, my dad used to play it when his friends came in from out of town. I was just a kid then." Locke chuckled.

"And you're not a kid now?" he asked. I crossed my arms. He chuckled again. "I'm just joking with you, Gavin. I know you're very mature, and you're handling this experience great. But the others might not see it that way." I thought of Jack's insistence on my staying behind yesterday.

"Yeah, I get it," I said. "So, how exactly do you play backgammon?" The older man smiled, but shook his head.

"It would take some time to explain," he said. "And I don't think you have much of that." I raised an eyebrow in confusion, and he pointed behind me. I turned to see Meredith waving me over. I quickly bid Locke a farewell, and jogged over to Meredith. Before I could even ask what was going on, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the other side of the beach.

"Slow down!" I yelled. "What's—" but I didn't need to answer. I saw what she wanted me to see. The blonde southern man and Sayid Jarrah were in an all out brawl. There were tons of people watching. The southern man tackled Sayid, and then in came two more people. Jack and Michael ran in, Michael grabbing Sayid and Jack grabbing the other man.

"Tell everyone what you told me!" shouted Sayid at the southerner. "Tell them how _I_ crashed the plane."

"What's going on?" asked Jack. Michael held up something dangly and glimmering.

"My boy found these in the jungle," he explained. I realized they were handcuffs. The blonde man pointed an accusatory finger at Sayid.

"And this guy was sitting in the back of business class the whole flight, never got up," he said. "Hands always folded under a blanket. And for some reason, just pointing this out, the guy I saw next to him didn't make it!" So the blonde man assumed Sayid had been a terrorist under arrest. That was racist as hell. Definitely didn't like this guy.

"STOP!" shouted a woman, brown hair, and freckles. I think her name was Kate. She was the woman who had gone with Jack and Charlie into the jungle. "Look we found the transceiver. But it's broken. Can _anybody_ help?" There was a pause, each person waiting for someone to step up. Eventually, Sayid raised a hand.

"Yes," he said, with an exhale. "I might be able to."

"Great!" shouted the blonde. "Perfect! Let's all trust this guy."

"Hey man, we're all in this together," said Hurley, from the crowd. "How 'bout we treat each other with a little respect."

"Shut up, Lardo," the blonde said. Disrespectfully.

"Hey," interrupted Jack. "Cut him a break, okay?" The man stormed off with a huff, and the rest of us were left to wait for Sayid to fix the transceiver.

_Flashback Two_

_April Ninth, 1995_

_ A seven year old Gavin and six year old Meredith ended their long game of hide and seek, finally coming inside of the house. They made for the kitchen, but were quickly apprehended by their mother._

_ "Gavin, Meredith, upstairs," she said, sternly yet quiet. "Your father has a few friends over. They're in the kitchen. You two aren't to disturb him. Go take baths." Gavin and his sister obediently nodded, and marched up the stairs towards their shared bathroom._

_ "Rock paper scissors," said Gavin. "Loser takes a bath first." Meredith agreed, and they both played a quick round. Gavin one, and left Meredith alone to bathe._

_ He walked out of the bathroom, and looked around. His mother was nowhere in sight. Now was his chance. Quickly, Gavin tiptoed down the stairs, and hid next to the closed kitchen door. He pressed an ear to the crack between the two doors, trying to hear the conversation._

_ "… why you don't just go already, George?" a man's voice asked. George was Gavin's father. "You have everything you need. What's keeping you?" There was a sigh._

_ "It's not that simple, Alan." Gavin's father said. Gavin pulled a face; he didn't like Alan. He always smelled of cigarette smoke, and drank far too much around two small children. "I still love them, you know? I can't just—" Just then, Gavin realized he was leaning to heavily on the door. He fell through, tumbling at the feet of his father's chair. His father glared down at him. Gavin thought he saw sadness in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared._

_ "Hello Gavin," said Alan from across the table. "Do you remember me?" Gavin stood, and brushed himself off._

_ "Yes," he said quietly. "Hello Mr. Alan." Alan smiled, a toothy, yellow smile._

_ "Your daddy and I were about to play a game," he said enticingly. "Do you know anything about backgammon?"_

**So that was fun, yeah? As you can probably see, this story will follow a lot of the main episodes, but I'll definitely throw in some extra stuff. If you liked it, please review and favorite. I'd really appreciate it. Until next time.**


	3. The Trek

**Hi everyone! Chapter three, here we go. Now, this is still going in order of episodes. Pretty soon I might start skipping some episodes, or adding some things that never happened, but easily could have (ie, they don't mess with the actual story.) For now though, please enjoy chapter three.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Gavin and Meredith, nothing else.**

Chapter Three

The Trek

After some time, Sayid managed to fix the transceiver. During the time that we were waiting, Meredith and I had been hanging out with Boone, helping him look for his bag. Shannon had already found hers, and was sunbathing by herself.

"Do you think Sayid will be able to get a signal?" I asked Boone, dropping an empty bag. "You know, when they go on their trip." Sayid, Kate, and Charlie would be taking the transceiver to higher ground, in an attempt to get a stronger signal, and maybe contact someone. Boone tossed me another bag to look through.

"I don't know," he said. "I hope so…" He rummaged through the bag in his hands, and pulled out a book. I looked at the cover; _Pride and Prejudice. _"Meredith!" he called over to her. She held up her hands, and he tossed her the book. Boone and I would search, and when we found something useful, we'd toss it to Meredith to organize into piles. Finding nothing useful in my new bag, I tossed it aside. Just then, Boone looked up, and I followed his gaze. He was looking at Shannon. Something must've pissed him off, because he stormed over there. I went to follow, but Meredith caught me.

"Not smart," she said. "Dude's got to vent." Sure enough, Boone and Shannon's conversation quickly erupted, becoming more of a shouting match than a simple talk. Shannon stood up, and stormed around a bit, then seemed to have her attention caught by something. I looked to where her eyes went, and saw Sayid, Kate and Charlie. She said something to Boone, and walked over to them.

"Shannon!" Boone shouted after her, and quickly followed his sister. Despite Meredith's efforts to keep me out of it, I was compelled to follow suit.

"I'd like to come with you," she tried.

"She's not going," said Boone.

"The hell I'm not!"

"This is what she does. She does things just to—"

"You don't know _what _I do!"

"Shut up, and stop trying to be charming."

"I don't know if you coming is such a good idea," said Kate wearily.

"What're you, like, two years older than me?" asked Shannon. She looked to Charlie. "You're going, right?" He looked kind of dazed. But nodded.

"Yep, definitely," he said. "Are you?" Shannon defiantly looked at Boone.

"Yep," she said. Then, without thinking about it, I spoke up.

"I'm going too," I said.

"Gavin—" began Sayid.

"No, listen," I began. "Who knows how long we're going to be on this island. I don't want to be an afterthought just because I'm young. And if coming with you is the only way to do this, then so be it." At this point Meredith had caught up with me.

"Gav, no," she said. I shook my head again.

"Mer, stay here," I said, turning to her. "You're injuries are still healing, and they're a lot worse than mine. I'll be fine," I grabbed her hands reassuringly. "Trust me." I could tell she didn't want to, but she nodded, and walked away.

"Well then I guess I'm going, too," said Boone, sounding less than thrilled about it. Shannon rolled her eyes.

We began to walk towards the jungle, when a voice I had already come to dislike called after us.

"Wait up, A-Team," said the southerner. I knew little about this man, but I knew he loved giving nicknames. He jogged up to the group, just before we'd made it to the tree line. "I wanna come with y'all." I rolled my eyes.

"Not a chance," I whispered to Sayid, who nodded in agreement. I didn't know about Boone, Shannon, Kate or Charlie, but Sayid and I didn't like this guy. But as he got closer and closer to our group, no one stopped him.

"You want to come with us?" asked Kate incredulously. "Why's that, Sawyer?" So his name was Sawyer. Now I was filled in.

"Gettin' real tired of sittin' around on my ass all day," he said crudely. "And since you let Barbie and Breakfast Club go with you, I figured you wouldn't mind having me along." I assumed Shannon was Barbie and I was Breakfast Club.

"No way in hell," I whispered under my breath.

"Fine," said Kate. My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped. Really? This guy? Man, what is it with girls and assholes? I looked to Sayid, who seemed equally displeased. But he said nothing, so I didn't either. We just continued to hike into the jungle.

XxXxX

Apparently Kate and Sayid's version of higher ground was much higher than everyone else's. We'd been going for at least two hours. Several times we'd thought that wherever we were was high enough ground, and someone (usually Shannon, Charlie or I) would voice this thought, just for Sayid or Kate to tell us we needed to keep going. At some point, I found myself in the back of the line, walking next to Charlie.

"Gav," he whispered. "Hey, Gavin. C'mere a second, would you?" I shrugged, and moved closer to Charlie. He leaned in slightly. "You think that Shannon girl might be into me?" I had to stifle a laugh. I liked Shannon, sure, but there was no hiding that she was pretty stuck up. You could look at Charlie once, see his disheveled appearance and scruffy demeanor, and know instantly he had no chance. But I decided to humor him.

"Uh, maybe," I said. "But uh, Boone's really protective of her. I'd play it cool if I were you." He nodded, agreeing with me.

"Makes sense," he mused. "See, at first I was trying to get Kate to warm up, but she's got the hots for the doctor I think. So maybe this Shannon girl's more open, you know?" I smiled.

"Sure man," I said reassuringly.

Just then, we came to the side of a small cliff. Small in terms of cliffs in general, but large compared to us. It was at least twenty five feet up.

"We'll need to get over this," said Sayid, prompting several pairs of eyes to go wide. He pointed to some brown tree roots. They looked thick, but also dead and brittle. "We can use these roots to climb up."

"No way, Abdul," said Sawyer. "We'll break our necks climbing that thing." For once I agreed with the rude southerner.

"We don't have a choice," said Kate, moving to begin the climb herself. "So let's get to climbing." Several sighs were released, but we began the ascension. Kate went first, followed by Sawyer. Sayid went next, then Charlie, then me. Shannon came after, and Boone brought up the rear. It wasn't easy; the rocky slope was constantly giving way under our feet, and we would need to help each other up often. Charlie lost his footing in front of me, and I had to give him a push back to a safe grip. At some point, Shannon nearly fell off. It took a combination of me grabbing her hand, and Boone pushing her upwards to keep her on.

Eventually we made it over, and continued the hike to higher ground. I knew eventually someone got impatient. It was Sawyer.

"Alright, here we are," he said, gesturing with his hands spread outwards. "Wide open space. Check the radio."

"We won't get any reception here," countered Sayid.

"Come on, just try it."

"We're still blocked from the mountain."

"I'm not asking you to leave it on all day, just a quick check."

"If I check it now, it might run out of juice."

"Just check the damn radio!" Sawyer shouted. Suddenly there came a rustling from the bushes nearby. A _loud_ rustling. The seven of us were deadly quiet, our eyes peeled, waiting to see something.

"What the hell's that?" I asked quietly. Then there was a roar from within the bushes. We saw some movement about fifteen feet away.

"It's coming towards us, I think," said Charlie. Another roar, causing us all to jump.

"Move, move!" shouted Kate. We all began to turn tail and head back the way we came. In ten seconds, we were sprinting as fast as our legs would allow it. Just then, we heard a different noise. It sounded like a gun shot. Then two more. We stopped running. Several more shots were fired, followed by a long, loud roar. We all slowly, tentatively walked back to where we had just been. There we found Sawyer, holding a gun, pointing it at a hulking white bear.

"That's…" said Shannon shakily. "That's a big bear…" Hell of an understatement. This thing was giant. And…white?

"Guys…" said Kate slowly. "These aren't just bears. I think they're… polar bears. Boone knelt down and examined it. It was covered entirely in white fur, splotched here and there with its own blood.

"That can't be a polar bear," he said.

"It's a polar bear," said Kate, Charlie, Sayid and I simultaneously.

"Polar bears don't normally live in the jungle," said Shannon. Charlie pointed at her.

"Spot on," he said.

"Polar bears don't live _near_ this far south," mused Sayid.

"This one does," Boone reminded him.

"Did," said Sawyer, sounding cocky. "This one _did._ Not anymore."

"Where did that come from?" asked Kate.

"Probably Bear Village, how the hell should I know?"

"Not the bear, the gun." The question still hung in the air. Sawyer sighed.

"I got it off one of the dead bodies," he answered at last. "It was a US Marshal who had it. Saw the gun lying there, thought it'd come in handy, so I took it. And guess what? I just shot a _bear!"_

"You're the prisoner," said Sayid suddenly. "You took the gun because you knew where it would be, because _you_ were the one the marshal was bringing back to the states."

"Sure…" said Sawyer, acting blasé about it.

"You were the one in the handcuffs," Sayid said, bringing up the incident that happened earlier this morning between himself and Sawyer.

"Fine!" said Sawyer suddenly. "Im the criminal. You're the terrorist. We can all play a part." He looked to Shannon. "Who d'you wanna be?" Suddenly Kate came up behind Sawyer, grabbed the gun, and pointed it at him. Then she held it out, once he was a good distance away.

"Does anyone know how to use a gun?" she asked.

"Think you just pull the trigger," Charlie said quietly, and I couldn't help but chuckle. Sayid held out a hand.

"There's a button on the grip," he said. "Push that, and eject the magazine." She did so, and the magazine fell to the ground. "There's still a round in the chamber. Hold the grip, pull the top out of the gun." She did so. Then she handed the empty gun back to Sawyer, and we continued on our way.

"Polar bears," I mumbled, though I knew Charlie could hear me. "As if the dinosaur in the jungle wasn't bad enough, it's friends with some polar bears."

"Welcome to mystery island," Charlie whispered.

The trek continued on for some time. The sun was slowly sinking, but we still had plenty of daylight by which to walk. My feet were aching, and I needed a rest. But I would never admit that; that would just be proving that Jack had been right, and that this was too much for a kid. Luckily for me, I didn't crack, not first at least.

"We've got to take a break," said Shannon at last. Charlie and I breathed sighs of relief, and sat down, perfectly synced up. We'd only been down for a second when Sayid shook his head.

"We can't stop now," he said, pointing at the sun. "We only have about an hour of perfect sunlight left, and then it will become increasingly difficult to navigate." He shifted his finger towards the horizon. "Just over that ridge. There we can finally get a signal." Not wanting to waste any more time, I stood.

"What're we waiting for, then?" I asked. "Let's get over that ridge." I offered a hand to Charlie and helped him stand. The seven of us began walking at an increasingly brisk pace, all eager to finally find some rest. We soon arrived at the destination Sayid had pointed out, and he took out the transceiver.

"We've got a bar," he mumbled quietly. Then louder, "We've got a bar!" The rest of us gathered around quickly, apprehension growing in all of us. He put it to his ear. "Mayday, mayday!" There came a loud shrieking sound, like when a microphone gets too close to the speaker.

"What was that?" asked Kate, worried.

"Feedback," said Sayid, fiddling with some knobs at the top of the transceiver.

"What would cause that?" I asked, confused.

"I'll tell you what would cause it," said Sawyer, sounding cocky. "This guy not fixing the damn radio right. Thing doesn't even work!"

"No no no," said Sayid. "It's not broken. We can't transmit because something else is already transmitting." This statement hung in the air. What could be transmitting from this island? We were the only ones here. Right? "The signal's strong. It's from somewhere close."

"Somewhere close?" I asked

"You mean on the island?" asked Charlie. "That's great!"

"Can we listen to it?" asked Kate.

"Let me get the frequency first," said Sayid, not taking his eyes off the device. "Hold on." We all practically held our breaths as Sayid played around with a few buttons. And then, finally, a voice came through. It was saying something I couldn't understand at all. A woman's voice. She sounded worried.

"That's French!" Charlie exclaimed. "The French are coming! I've never been so happy to hear the _French_!" he and Sayid shared an excited laugh.

"But what's she saying?" I asked the obvious question. "Does anyone speak French?" I wished I hadn't told Meredith to stay; she'd taken French through middle and high school. But, surprisingly, Boone spoke up.

"She does!" he said, pointing to Shannon. They began a short argument over whether or not this was true, when a new voice came over the speaker.

"Seven, two, nine, four, five, three, one," It said. Then there was a small static noise, and the French woman began speaking again.

"Oh no no no no no no no!" said Sayid. "The battery is dying!" Meanwhile, Boone and Shannon continued arguing.

"I've heard you speak French, just listen to it!" he exclaimed.

"I can't do this!" shouted Shannon. Suddenly Sawyer spoke up, looking at Shannon.

"Do speak French or not, because that would be nice," he said. Shannon finally sighed, and asked for the transceiver. She held it to her ear.

"It's… it's repeating," she told us.

"She's right," said Sayid suddenly. "It's a loop, the same message repeating." The second voice came on, counting the numbers. "This will end… five, three, three."

And just like that, "Five, three, three," came the voice on the radio.

"It's a running counter the number of times the message has been repeated," explained Sayid. Then he began to do some mental math, and Shannon listened to the message again.

"She's saying… please help me," began Shannon. She looked close to tears. "Please come get me. I'm alone now. I'm… on the island alone… Please someone come. The others, their… their dead. I-it killed them… it killed them all…" Then the battery died.

"Sixteen years," said Sayid. "Sixteen years and five months. It's a distress call; a call for help. If the counter is right, it's been playing for _sixteen_ years."

"Someone else was stranded here?" I asked.

"Maybe someone came for them…" suggested Kate.

"If someone came, why is it still playing?" Sawyer countered. This was a good point, and the question hung in the air, giving us all the chills. The silence was finally broken by Charlie.

"Guys… where are we?"

**Who says it has to have a flashback after each chapter? Not me, that's for sure. I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless. I will try to write much more frequently. If you liked it, let me know; write a review! Please favorite and follow this story as well, as it lets me know you enjoy it. Thanks!**


	4. Settling In

_Author's Note: God it's been a while. Listen, I hope no one expected a big note about what's been going on, because you're not getting one. Enjoy._

Chapter Four

Settling In

It was only natural that Boone pointed out; "It's getting dark," which prompted a snarky remark from Sawyer.

"We should make camp here," said Sayid, much to Sawyer's displeasure. "Wait out the night."

"I'm gonna keep walking," said Sawyer, not stopping with the rest of us. "But you all enjoy your little cookout."

"Fine," said Sayid. "Make it through the jungle, alone in the dark." Sawyer turned, and flashed a cocky smile.

"What?" he asked. "Afraid the trees are gonna get me?"

"The thing knocking _down_ the trees," said Sayid evenly.

And so it was settled. We found a nice patch of dry land, and set about gathering fire wood. Charlie, Boone and I were the main gatherers. As I picked up a large piece of wood, I whispered to Boone; "Charlie's got the hots for your sister." Boone chuckled.

"Tell him good luck," he said, and we left it at that.

Once the darkness was fully upon us, and we had the fire growing steadily, Sayid began explaining his views on our situation.

"This is Australia," he said, indicating a rock with his foot. Then he held up a lit torch. "This is us. Two days ago, we take off. We fly along the same route every commercial airline bound for Los Angeles does. The pilot lost communication with the ground, so we changed course. Regrettably, no one _knew_ we changed course. The turbulence hit…" and with that, he extinguished the torch in the grass. "…we know the rest."

"Okay, really enjoyed the puppet show," said Sawyer, sitting up. "But let's talk about the other thing. You know, the French woman who said 'they're all dead.' And how long's that been playing for? Sixteen years. Let's talk about _that._" There was a long pause.

"Are we going to tell the others about it?" I asked. "I mean, not everyone, but maybe a key few? Jack maybe? Mr. Locke?"

"Who?" asked Sawyer.

"We don't tell anyone anything," said Sayid, causing silence from the rest of us. "To relay what we heard, without fully understanding it, will cause a panic. If we tell them what we know… we take away their hope."

"So we lie?" asked Kate. No one said anything after that, and it was understood that that was _exactly_ what we needed to do.

XxXxX

Night turned to midnight, and we had all drifted to sleep. It wasn't comfortable, but we would manage. Kate slept near Charlie, who was next to me. I was next to Boone, who was next to Sawyer. He was next to Shannon, who was next to Sayid, bringing it to a full circle again at Kate. And we all would have slept through the night, had a noise not startled us all awake. When I opened my eyes, I realized Boone was no longer next to me. He was on his feet, holding the gun away from Sayid.

"I'm standing guard," he explained, probably answering a question I hadn't heard. "You heard what the woman said. If something's out there…" But whatever he said next couldn't be heard, due to the eruption of voices all talking over one another. Sayid asking for the gun, Boone stubbornly trying to keep it, Shannon trying to talk him out of it. I had to speak up.

"Give it to Kate," I said, and everyone stopped talking. "She handled this before, she can handle it now. I can't think of a safer person to hold the gun than the person who doesn't know how to use it."

"Yeah," said Charlie, Kate should hold the gun.

"Fine with me," said Sayid. And Boone handed the gun to her. Things settled down, and we moved back to our sleeping positions. Before we completely checked out, I tapped Boone.

"What were you thinking, man?" I whispered to him. "Are you trying to piss off Sayid? Right now he seems like the _only one of us_ that knows what he's doing." Boone didn't want to answer, and quickly fell asleep, embarrassed of his actions.

XxXxX

We arrived back at camp early in the morning. Sayid and Kate had managed to call a meeting of all our fellow survivors, and had already gone over what they were planning to say. And what they were planning to keep a secret.

"Attention everyone," Sayid called, standing tall on an elevated piece of plane wreckage. We all stood beside him. I spotted Meredith in the crowd, standing next to a young, blonde pregnant woman. I resisted the urge to wave to her, wanting to seem more mature. "As you all know, the seven of us hiked up the mountain in an attempt to help the rescue team locate us. The transceiver wasn't able to pick up a signal. We weren't able to send out a call for help. But we're not giving up. If we gather electronic equipment, I can boost the signal and try again. But that may take some time, so we'll need to get to rationing…" and he set about dividing up groups. As it was, we would all need to pitch in. Some would ration food, and others would build tents. Some would look for valuable supplies, and others would set up tarps to catch the rain water. I made my way to Meredith and the pregnant girl.

"Hey," I said. "How are you? Injuries getting better?" She giggled, and so did the pregnant girl.

"See, what did I tell you?" Meredith asked the girl. "How overprotective is he?" The pregnant girl giggled again, and held out a hand.

"I'm Claire," she said. She had an Australian accent. I smiled, and shook her hand. "Meredith's told me a lot about you already."

"Claire and I spent pretty much all day together yesterday," Meredith explained. I nodded in understanding. "We're going to go help ration the food. Why don't you go set up tents?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Trying to get rid of me, sis?" I asked her. "Fine. You guys want to have some girl talk, I'll let you have at it. I'll be setting up tents." I walked off, and the girls began talking. Good; I'm glad Meredith found a friend on the island. I love my sister dearly, but I didn't want her with me all the time. I was trying to prove my maturity and independence, and that might involve some risky situations. I didn't want Meredith getting involved in that.

I saw Charlie and Hurley beginning to set up a tent, so I decided to join those two for now. I began making my way over, but ran into someone. Jack. He looked tired and preoccupied, but still had the time to say hello.

"Hello Gavin," he said, sounding like he hadn't slept in days (which was possible). How are you doing? Stitches holding up okay?" I nodded, and he smiled. "Good, I'll see you around then." And he was off. I watched him go towards a secluded blue tent. Rumor had it that the US marshal Sawyer had taken the gun from wasn't quite dead yet, and Jack was doing his best to save him. But his best might not be enough.

I got to where Charlie and Hurley were awkwardly setting a up a tarp that would act as the roof of a tent. "Hey guys," I called, receiving waves from both. When Hurley waved, he dropped his half of the tarp, and Charlie gave him a friendly smack in the chest. I chuckled. "Need some help there?"

"Please," said Charlie. He gestured to Hurley. "Man's a worse tent builder than I am a ballet dancer. But I figure he'd be pretty bad at that, too." I laughed again.

"Dude, harsh," said Hurley, picking up his side of the tarp again. Smiling, I grabbed a third end, and dragged it down over the top of an arrangement of bamboo that someone else had already fashioned into the shape of a tent. We all pulled down at once, and that was when I realized it would do no good.

"You guys don't have any stakes," I told them. They looked to the ground, and found I was right.

"Arrg!" Charlie shouted in exasperation. He slumped down onto the sand. "Bloody brilliant planning on our part!" I held up some hands to calm him down.

"Relax, man," I said. "I'll get some." Charlie gave me his thanks, and went back to his friendly argument with Hurley. I began looking for someone that would have something to hold down the ends of the tents. I scanned the area, and found Boone, walking off in a huff. I caught up with him.

"Not now, Gav," he said as I arrived.

"Shannon?" I asked. He nodded. The two siblings were always arguing over something or other. They were pretty much always at each other's throats. "Alright man, you deal with your stuff." He thanked me, and I continued searching.

"Hello Gavin," came a call from behind me, after I had asked around a little bit more. I turned around, and found Locke standing there, peeling a mango with a small knife. Where he had gotten either I had no idea. "You looking for something in particular?" I sighed with relief, and walked over to the older man.

"Yeah," I said, beginning to explain. "You see Charlie, Hurley and I—have you met Charlie and Hurley?" he nodded. "Well, the three of us are trying to build a tent over there, but we don't have any stakes, or things to hold down the tarp. Any ideas?" He seemed to think for a moment, then tossed me the mango. I barely managed to catch it, since I was caught off guard. He rummaged in his back pocket for a moment, and pulled out four sharp, short wooden sticks.

"Here you go," he said. "Failed attempts."

"At what?" I asked, gratefully taking the wooden sticks and giving Locke back his mango.

"A whistle," he said, and left it at that. "I'd hurry up and build that tent of yours, Gavin. There's a storm coming; it'll be here in under an hour." I thanked Locke for the sticks and the advice, and hurried back to my tent companions.

When I had gotten back, Hurley was nowhere to be found. Charlie had informed me that he had left to help Jack with the marshal in the tent, and the Brit and I finished setting up the tent alone. Just in time, too, because it turned out Locke had been correct in his weather prediction. The storm raged, and Charlie and I sat under the new tent.

"Holding up good, right?" Charlie said, above the roar of the rain. I nodded, but I was thinking more about Meredith. I hope she'd gotten out of the rain. Since we were kids, she'd always had a pretty weak immune system, always getting colds or the flu. But on the island, without medicine or doctors (excluding Jack, because he was so busy tending to the dying marshal) a simple bout of the flu could be more than an inconvenience. But I tried not to think about it. I looked at Charlie, and still couldn't shake the feeling that I knew him from somewhere.

"Hey man," I said, figuring now was as good a time as any. "Have you ever been to LA?" He seemed to smile slightly, as if he knew something I didn't.

"Nope," he said. "But I look familiar, right?"

"Yeah, a lot."

"Mmhmm…" he said. "Ever heard of Drive Shaft?" Drive Shaft? The rock band? What did they have to do with anything?

"Yeah…" I said slowly. "Uh, 'You All Everybody,' right?" He nodded, smiling, as if waiting for me to catch on. "What does that… wait… no!" He nodded, with a smile.

"You all, everybody!" he sang, sounding just like the CD. "You ALL, everybody!" I laughed aloud. Drive Shaft was one of my favorite bands.

"Man, I loved you guys!" I said excitedly. "But I got to say, I liked your first album more than 'Oil Change.'" He nodded.

"Most people do," he said. "Can't explain it. We're gonna work on a comeback album. Or… we _were…_ You know, before the island and all that rubbish." I nodded. And we sat under the tarp until the rain ended. We talked about music, his favorites and mine. And when we could go back out, it was near night.

"I'm going to find Meredith," I told him. "Probably hit the hay."

"G'night, mate," he said, and we walked in opposite directions.

Now that the rain had stopped, I could hear things more clearly. There was a loud moaning coming from down the beach, and I assumed it was from the marshal in the tent. I found Meredith, sitting near Shannon. As I walked up she waved, but Shannon sat with her arms crossed. I sat down next to the two girls.

"Where's Boone at?" I asked. Shannon pointed forward, and I realized I had been walking a mere fifteen steps ahead of the older boy. He walked up, and sat down with us.

"I wish he would just die already," Shannon said finally, referring of course to the moaning marshal.

"Real humane, Shannon," said Boone. I wanted to agree with him, and feel distaste for what the blonde girl had said. But in reality, I somewhat agreed with Shannon. I wish someone would put the poor man out of his misery. I leaned over to Shannon and Boone, making sure Meredith couldn't hear me.

"Has Sayid made any progress with the transceiver?" I asked quietly. "With boosting the signal?"

"It's only been a day," Shannon reminded me. "Less than that, really. This could take a while." Boone nodded in agreement.

"That's true…" I said. "Do you think—" but my sentence was cut short, by the unmistakable sound of a gunshot ringing out across the beach. All conversation seemed to stop abruptly, as the heads of every survivor on the beach turned to where the sound had come from. The tent with the dying marshal within.

"Maybe…" said Meredith slowly. "Maybe someone put him out of his misery?" I nodded, hoping that was the case, and not more violence between my fellow castaways. And for a moment the marshal made no noise, so it seemed like the only logical answer. But then the screaming returned, sounding gargled and even more pained than before.

"If someone tried to kill him," said Shannon. "They didn't do a very good job of it." Just then, the screaming subsided again. This time, it didn't come back. I got up, walking over to see what had happened. I watched as Doctor Jack walked out of the marshal's tent, looking shaken. He had killed the marshal to end his suffering. It took a big man to do that. Jack had what it took to survive out here. But did I?

_Flashback Three_

_August Eighteenth, 2003_

_ The nearby public beach hired part time lifeguards as young as the age of fourteen. Being a gifted surfer and swimmer, Gavin felt there was no job he could enjoy more than one where he could spend a day near the ocean. He had taken the course in life saving (proper techniques to get someone out of the water, CPR, that sort of stuff) and had applied for the job. They accepted him almost at once, and now he was sitting on the lifeguard chair, soaking up the sun. Several girls he knew from his school had come to flirt with him over the course of the day. He felt pretty good right now, to say the least. Then things took a turn for the worst._

_ "Help, someone help!" came a startled voice from down the beach. Gavin immediately removed his sunglasses, and looked for the source of the call. There was a woman screaming and pointing at the ocean. Gavin followed her gaze, and saw there was a small girl out way further than she should have been. She was quickly going under. Gavin sprang into action._

_ "Someone call an ambulance," he shouted, as he ran for the shore. "She might need one!" With that, he dove into the incoming waves. Paddling against the currant, he swam out to the drowning girl. He reached her, grabbed her by the waist, and began paddling back with one hand. The whole way, he made sure to keep her head above the water._

_ When he arrived at land, he immediately began performing CPR. Compressions and breaths. He made it through a few cycles of this, when someone pulled him aside. It was a man in some blue scrubs, so Gavin assumed he was a doctor. Turning around, Gavin saw that the ambulance had arrived._

_ Several paramedics got the girl on a stretcher, and the doctor who had pulled Gavin aside gave him a pat on the back._

_ "You did good out there, kid," he praised. "If you hadn't given her the CPR correctly, she could've been dead before I got here." Gavin wanted to say thanks, but a paramedic called the doctor over._

_ "Doctor Shephard," came the voice. "We need you over here." He waved that he was coming, and left Gavin on the shoreline to feel like a hero._

_**Before you go, I'd like to thank people who kept reading and checking back even when I hadn't updated for, like, a month. I really appreciate that. Until next time (which hopefully won't be in another month!)**_


	5. Hero Complex

_Author's Note: So I hope this was in a better amount of time than the last. I'll try to update more regularly in the future, but no promises. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it._

Chapter Five

Hero Complex

I had tried to sleep in, I really had. The night before, after Locke, Kate and Michael had went on a hunt for some wild boar, we had held a burning of the cockpit, which acted as a sort of funeral pyre. The dead bodies inside were burned up, and several half-eulogies were made. And after that, I really had just wanted to sleep in. But I couldn't, as I was shaken awake by Meredith.

"Gavin, wake up!" she was shouting. "We need you!" I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and sat up in the little tent that I shared with Meredith. It was directly next to Boone and Shannon's.

"What's going on?" I asked, confused about what the emergency was.

"It's Boone," she explained. "There was a woman, out in the ocean, right? She was drowning, so Boone jumped in to try and save her."

"And?"

"He couldn't fight the current. He's going under, Gav!" I sprang into action. I pulled off my shirt, and sprinted to the shoreline. Shannon was standing there, screaming for someone to save Boone.

"Gavin, go get him back here!" she shouted, through tears coming down her face.

I wasted no time. I jumped into the water, and kicked as hard as I could. The waves beating against me were strong, but I managed to get through them. Eventually I managed tom get the sinking figure. I swam under the water, and pulled Boone up for air. When I had resurfaced, I found that Jack had dived in as well.

"I've got this!" I shouted, over the crashing waves. "I'm a lifeguard!" Jack shook his head, and pointed to another figure, further out than Boone had been. I realized it was the woman Boone had been trying to save.

"Get Boone back to shore," Jack commanded me. "I'll save the woman." I nodded, and began to swim back, with Boone draping an arm across my shoulders. It was tough swimming back with him clinging on like that, but the waves were helping me this time, not hindering me.

We arrived back at the beach, where a small crowd had gathered. I laid Boone on the sand, and collapsed next to him, almost equally out of breath. I watched Shannon break through the throng of people.

"Why the _hell_ did you do that?" whispered Shannon fiercely. Boone, between gasps of air, tried to defend himself. Meanwhile, a few people walked over to me.

"Why'd _you_ get in there, mate?" asked Charlie. "Jack was on it." I had to take a lot of deep breaths, but I still managed to answer him.

"I'm a… lifeguard…" I explained, in between inhales. "You know… back in real life." We had begun referring to life off the island as 'real life' for a few days now. I turned over, and looked at Boone. He squinted against the sunlight trying to look at me. I grinned. "You owe me, man." He laughed slightly, then continued to cough up water. And we laid there for a while, regaining our breath.

XxXxX

An hour or so later, I found Jack. I walked over, and he nodded to me. "Hey," I said. "So… did you ID the woman?" Despite Jack's best efforts to rescue the drowning woman, he just couldn't get there in time. He looked down, his face full of shame.

"Kate said her name was Joanna," he told me. "She's… she _was_ a scuba diver." That was slightly ironic. I sat next to Jack, and patted him on the back.

"Jack, man, it's okay," I assured him. "You tried your best, but…" I suddenly noticed that he had humungous bags under his eyes. "Damn, you should get some sleep, Jack." He chuckled slightly, then stood up.

"Yeah, there are a lot of things I should be doing right now," he mused. Then he suddenly stopped talking, and his eyes were fixed on the horizon. I stood up as well, but he started to walk away.

"Jack?" I asked. He got further away. "Jack? So… does this mean we're done talking?" He got further away, without responding. "Alright. See you later!" I called after him. I turned to walk away, when I noticed something odd. There was someone walking down the beach, swaying, as if drunk. I realized it was Claire, the pregnant girl who Meredith had been hanging out with. And suddenly, she dropped.

I sprinted over to where she was. I knelt down, and felt her pulse. She was alive, good, but unconscious. "Hey!" I shouted. "Someone get over here! Claire needs help!" The nearest person, Charlie, came running.

"What happened?" he asked, concern covering his face. I shook my head.

"I don't know," I said. "One minute she was walking around all tipsy looking, and the next…" I gestured to Claire's unconscious form. "Come on, help me lift her." We picked her up, me grabbing her shoulders and Charlie taking her feet. Despite being only sixteen, I was rather tall. Taller, in fact, than Charlie, so Claire wasn't drooping down as I carried her.

"Let's get her to Jack," Charlie suggested.

"Can't, he's gone," I told him. "We were having a conversation, and then, boom, he goes tromping off into the jungle."

Soon someone saw the two of us carrying the pregnant girl. It was Kate. She came running over, asking what happened. We explained, and she told us to get her inside the large medical tent (which had previously housed the marshal.) We did, and Kate set about trying to rouse her. As Claire opened her eyes, Kate said she needed water. Charlie went for the large suitcase we used to store the water bottles. He bent down, rummaged through it, and stood up, confused.

"The water's gone," he said. Kate and I both looked at him incredulously. "Someone stole it!" Kate and I exchanged looks.

"Go tell Jack that—" she began.

"Can't," I said, and explained the same thing I had to Charlie.

"Then…" she said, still trying to attend to Claire. "Then go tell Locke or Sayid. Maybe they'll know what to do." I nodded, and set out, but then Kate stopped me. "Wait, I'll go with you. Charlie, watch Claire." The rock star nodded, and Kate and I set out.

"I'll find Sayid," I suggested. "You find Locke. Meet over there." I pointed to a secluded looking spot, a bit further down the beach. She nodded, and we both set out.

Sayid was working on the transceiver, lying under a shady tree when I found him. "Sayid, there's trouble," I told him. He sat up, alert and ready. "Someone stole the last of the water. Kate, Locke and I are coming up with a plan. Come with me." The Iraqi wasted no time, and the two of us jogged to where Locke and Kate were standing.

"Now where is the doctor?" asked Locke. I explained, yet again, he was off somewhere in the jungle.

"And you're sure this is the last of the camp's supply of water?" Kate and I both nodded. Sayid sighed. "Keeping it all in one place; foolish."

"I could go into the jungle, try to find some fresh water," suggested Kate.

"You're not going alone," said Sayid. I know there was some talk things were getting hot between Kate and Jack or Sawyer, but I had a feeling Sayid liked her a little "more than friends."

"Sayid's right, who knows what's out there," I said.

"When the others find out the water's gone, it's gonna get ugly," said Locke. "When they found out someone pinched it… it's gonna get uglier." There was a moment of silence, when Sayid, Kate and I exchanged looks. "I'll go," Locke said. "The camp needs you three here with the doctor gone. And besides, I know where to look." And without another word, he set off by himself.

"That man will either bring us whatever we need to survive," said Sayid to himself. "Or get himself killed trying."

"Well what do we do now?" asked Kate.

"Isn't it obvious?" I asked her. She seemed confused, but Sayid understood what I was thinking. "We ask around, start interrogating. Find out who stole the water in the first place." Sayid nodded.

"Who can we rule out?" he asked.

"The three of us," said Kate. "Locke and Jack, since they're in the jungle. And Charlie and Claire. Anyone else is fair game right now."

"Not Meredith," I said. "She was with Claire all of yesterday, and I've been with her since last night up until about an hour ago, after the water was already gone. Also, I'm pretty sure Hurley was with Charlie, so it most likely wasn't him."

As if the mere mention of his name acted as a dog whistle, Hurley suddenly came bounding up to us. He looked red and sweaty. "Dudes," he said. "Charlie told me what's going on. And I just saw something; the Chinese people have water." The three of us (not counting Hurley) exchanged looks, and then went running across the beach.

We found the two "Chinese people" (but I was pretty sure they're Korean) standing by their own make shift tent.

"Where did you get this?" asked Sayid, grabbing an empty water bottle off the sand. The Korean woman didn't respond. "I said, where did you get this?"

"She doesn't understand," said Kate.

"She _does_ understand!" snapped Sayid. "_Where did you get this!?_" The Korean man came up out of nowhere, stepping between his wife and Sayid. He said something none of us understood, and I decided to try my hand at this whole interrogating thing.

"Look," I said calmly, trying to remember the 'good cop' parts of those crime movies. "This bottle used to have water in it. You shouldn't have it. Where did you get it? Who gave it to you?" The man glared at me, then angrily thrust his finger to an area down the beach. The three of us followed his finger, and saw it was pointing to Sawyer, smoking a cigarette. I nodded in thanks, and we set off to confront the southerner. But just before we took off, Sayid grabbed Kate's arm, and whispered something to her. She listened, and nodded, and they turned to walk away. I didn't have time to ask what was going on, but I wasn't about to face Sawyer on my own, so I decided to find Meredith and talk about what was going on.

XxXxX

Meredith was sitting with Shannon, near our tents. I sat down next to the two, and began regaling them with the events of the morning. When I was done, Shannon interjected.

"So there's no more water?" she asked incredulously, as if I hadn't made that perfectly clear. "So then, what are we supposed to do until Locke gets back?"

"It'll be okay, Shannon," said Meredith. "It'll probably rain soon. And even if it doesn't, we can trust Mr. Locke to get us water. He's given us food, hasn't he?" Shannon still didn't seem convinced, but said nothing. Night was quickly approaching, but it wasn't yet dark enough to light the fires. I stood, and motioned for Meredith to come with me.

"Let's go see how Claire's doing," I suggested. Mer grabbed my hand, and I helped her up. I looked to Shannon. "Coming?" In response, she laid down on her stomach, and untied the back of her bikini top so there wouldn't be tan lines. "Suit yourself." But inside, I'd hoped Shannon wouldn't come with us.

I waited until we were out of anyone's earshot, then leaned in towards Meredith. "Okay, now we need to start thinking," I explained. "Kate, Sayid and I already got some people off the list of suspects, you included. But I need to know if you've seen anyone acting suspicious." She shook her head.

"I've been with Shannon all day, so it wasn't her," she told me.

"What about Boone?" I asked. I was really hoping that one of my closest friends on the island wouldn't be behind this, but I couldn't count him out. Trust but verify, as they say.

"I haven't seen him in a while," she said. "He was having an argument with Jack, maybe four hours ago, but since then, nothing. But do you guys have any leads?"

Before I could answer her question, Sawyer ran up to me from out of nowhere. He gave me a mighty shove in the chest, sending me staggering back.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed, getting ready to throw a punch.

"I'll tell you what the hell, hero complex," he said, referencing me saving Boone this morning. "Kate and Sayid just tackled me to the ground, _demanding_ I tell them where my water stash was. Well guess what, I ain't got none neither! So next time you three vigilantes decide to go all rogue cop on a guy, get your damn facts straight!" And then he stormed off. Meredith walked over, and I snarled in Sawyer's direction.

"Does _that_ answer your question?" I asked my sister. The audacity of the guy, to come at me like that. I couldn't stand him.

We made our way to the medical tent, but before we could walk in, Sayid came running up behind us. I told Meredith to go in without me while I talked to him.

"So I guess Sawyer's clean," I said, somewhat angrily.

"I see he got to you before I did," said Sayid, looking down. "I'm sorry." I sighed, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine, I'm alright," I assured him. "But now what? We've got no leads, and Locke's not back from his trek. Plus, no one's seen or heard from Jack in hours." Sayid nodded.

"I know, it looks rather grim," he said. "But, as you said, we have no other leads. Besides, it's getting late. I say we call it a rest for the night, and begin again tomorrow morning." I sighed again, but agreed.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," I said, and Sayid walked off to his own tent. I walked in to the medical tent, and found Meredith sitting on the sand next to Claire. She was awake, and smiled weakly at me as I entered. I waved, then walked over to Charlie, who was standing guard like a watch dog. "How's she doing?"

"A bit better," he said, not taking his eyes off the pregnant girl. "She's been going in and out of sleep, but I figure that's probably a good thing. Any news?"

"Nah," I said quietly, not wanting to alarm Claire. "Jack's still missing, Locke hasn't found water yet, and Kate, Sayid and I are all out of ideas. Believe it or not, Sawyer isn't our water thief." Charlie shook his head.

"It's ridiculous," he said. "Who in their right minds would steal our only supply of water?" I didn't know either, so I shrugged.

Meredith and I spent a little bit longer with Claire, just talking, but then we decided to head back to the tent. It had gotten quite dark by now, and when we arrived we found Shannon already in her tent. But not Boone.

"Where's Boone?" I asked his step sister. She shrugged, sitting up under her makeshift blanket.

"I haven't seen him in a while," she said. "He came back for a few minutes while you guys were gone, acting kind of weird. But then he was gone again. I don't care, really." She turned to go back to sleep, and I went towards my own tent. I wasn't two feet away from the entrance when I heard the beginnings of a fight taking part behind me. I quickly got up, telling Meredith to stay back, and ran towards the noise. There I found Charlie and Michael, among a few others, standing over a slightly bloody Boone.

"Here's your thief!" shouted Charlie. I looked at Boone in horror, my fears now come to life. Michael walked forward.

"Where'd he hide it?"

"I don't know," said Charlie, hoisting Boone up off the ground. "This wanker had three bottles on him. Why'd you do it, pretty boy?" I rushed in, trying to separate my two newfound friends.

"It was just sitting there," said Boone exasperatingly. "It was just sitting in the tent. Jack just took off. I tried to give Claire some sooner but… it just got out of hand."

"What is going on?" asked a voice. Kate walked up into the middle of the scene, finding Charlie and Boone circling round and round, and me in the middle.

"If I hadn't taken responsibility for it no one would ever have!" Then Charlie jumped him. I quickly tried to separate the two again, and was joined by Sayid. I held back Boone as he held back Charlie.

"Leave him alone!" came someone's voice above the rest. The fighting died down suddenly, as everyone turned to see where the voice was coming from. Jack stood there, illuminated by torchlight. No one said a word. The only sound was the crackling of fire. Then Jack spoke again. "It's been six days, and we're all still waiting. Waiting for someone to come. But what if they don't? We have to stop waiting. We need to start figuring things out. A woman died this morning," he gestured to Boone. "He tried to save her, and now you're going to crucify him?" He let that sink in for a minute.

"We can't do _this_," he continued. "Every man for himself is _not_ gonna work. It's time to start organizing. We need to figure out how we can survive here." Several heads began to nod. "Now I found water, fresh water up in the valley. I'll take a group up at first light. If you don't want to come, then find another way to contribute. Last week most of us were strangers," I looked to Boone, then to Charlie, then to Shannon. Previous strangers who I now called my friends. "But we're all here now. And god knows how long we're gonna be here! But if we can't live together… we're gonna die alone."

XxXxX

It was dark out, but people were still milling about. Since there was a new source of water, the rest that we had could be used up. Everyone got some. Well, except for Boone, as a sort of punishment. He was sitting alone on the beach, people avoiding him on purpose. Meredith was already asleep, but I was not. I was also not as callous or shallow as those around me, and I sat down in the sand next to Boone.

"Are you sure you want to be seen with me?" he mumbled, not taking his eyes off the crashing waves. "People might think you're a criminal too." I sighed.

"No one thinks you're a criminal, Boone," I assured him. "But… why'd you do it? Take the water, I mean."

"No one else was going to do anything about it!" he exclaimed. "Jack was gone, Locke was off too. Kate Sayid, heck even _you_ were off doing something else. I just… I just wanted to help. I wanted to be a leader." I nodded slowly.

"Wow," I said after a while. "And Sawyer thinks _I_ have a hero complex." Boone gave me a stern look, but it slowly melted into a grin.

As if beckoned by the sound of his name, Sawyer swaggered over to where we were sitting. "So how's it feel?" he asked Boone.

"How's what feel?"

"Taking my place at the top of everyone's most hated list?" That sure wasn't true. Boone wasn't the top of _everybody's_ list; certainly not mine. "Sucks, don't it?" Boone slowly nodded. "You two heroes ought to form a Justice League on this goddamn island." With that, he walked away.

Boone and I sat in silence for a moment, then I stood to leave. "I'm going to go with Jack to the fresh water tomorrow," I informed him. "Do you want to come?" He thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"I don't think it's a good idea," he said. I nodded, and went to leave. Then Boone called after me. "Gavin?" I turned to look. "Thanks. For talking, and all." I smiled, nodded, and returned to my tent for the night, the prospect of tomorrow's adventure fresh in my mind.

_Now that that's done, I'd like to ask you to please review and favorite if you enjoyed the story, and please continue to read if you so chose to. Like I said, I'll try to get more out more regularly. Until next time!_


End file.
